


Getting It

by Pandamerium



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Cliche, Gen, M/M, Thunderstorms, random dumb story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-24
Updated: 2013-10-24
Packaged: 2017-12-30 08:05:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1016154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pandamerium/pseuds/Pandamerium
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Thunder can't harm you, Maxwell."<br/>"It used to."</p><p>A short story about getting comfort for fears.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Getting It

**Author's Note:**

  * For [my Duo](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=my+Duo).



“Think like a wise man, but communicate in the language of people.” – William Butler Yeats

-x-

Wufei liked the rain – rain washed away much of the dirt staining the world, leaving behind a fresh, earthy smell in its wake. It was calming, the pitter-patter against windows and even the splashing from children playing in puddles was a relaxing element for him. The rumbling of distant thunder reverberated in his chest and fell in time with his heartbeat, keeping it steady.

Duo, in contrast, hated the rain. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the smell or the kids having fun out in it – it was because he never was sure if the coming storm would bring the thunder.

Their apartment was in a city notorious for having rainstorms, and many were quiet. But it didn’t put Duo off the edge he felt whenever he would see the dark clouds rolling in on the horizon. Would there be thunder? Would it rage for hours? He didn’t know and it made him more afraid than the noise itself. Usually he got a warning when it was ten miles out – thunder travels quickly – but he’d be uneasy nonetheless.

Wufei noticed, too – he noticed the way Duo’s jaw clenched when he looked out at the darkening skies, how his shoulders perked up slightly from his normal slouch. He noticed how those eyes widened a fraction before attempting to settle into a relaxed indifference, because what was there to be afraid of in a little thunderstorm?

‘ _Much, apparently,’_ Wufei noted.

The nature of fear wasn't unfamiliar to either ex-pilot, but whereas Wufei had learnt to deal with it and control many of his reactions, Duo’s first instinct always won out. Which, in this case, was to lock himself in his room, hands on the sides of his head, futilely trying to block out the noise from the storm. Sometimes he’d curl up in a corner; other times he’d lay in bed. He’d always have his palms clamped over his ears, eyes closed.

Today was one of those days, as Wufei walked in, shaking the rain off, and noticed Duo was nowhere to be seen. The apartment was dark. He walked into Duo’s bedroom (the door was cracked) and saw the man curled up on the bed, hands over headphones sealing his ears. They were probably on full volume, because Wufei could hear the DnB from the doorway.

Something needed to be done about this.

Setting his bag down, he walked over to sit on the edge of the bed, gazing down at his roommate. He wouldn’t be able to hear Wufei, not with that music blasting his eardrums out. So the Chinese man reached down and covered Duo’s hands with his own. It startled Duo, and his eyes shot open, locking with Wufei’s immediately. While Wufei’s were calm (and concerned, but stoically so), Duo’s looked like a deer in headlights, embarrassed and—yes, that was most definitely shame.

Wufei had caught him, after all.

Another loud thunderclap echoed overhead.

The Chinese man didn’t change his expression; he focused on slowly moving Duo’s hands away and was about to remove the headphones, but Duo pulled back, clutching them over his ears, shaking his head wildly. This reaction didn’t surprise Wufei and he tried again. In any other situation, Wufei would’ve told Duo he was acting like a child. But this was different, completely and utterly different. Even Wufei understood there were lines – by crossing them, he knew it would be highly insensitive on his part. He wouldn’t do that – not to Duo.

“I can’t—”

“You can.”

Lightning flashed outside and Duo shifted, trying to move away from Wufei, who all but now yanked away the headphones. Duo’s hands went over his ears, pressing back against the headboard. He whimpered when the thunder came again.

Wufei was always a believer in facing problems head-on. Duo was the opposite and everyone knew it because of his damn motto. A motto that, upon hearing it, drove Wufei up the walls.

“ _I may run and hide but I never tell a lie!”_

It was undeniably frustrating, and Wufei had lost count how many times he told Duo to just face his issues.

But after living with Duo for two years now, he knew so much about Duo, it couldn’t even be laughable. He knew Duo’s quirks, what made him happy, and what brought him back from the edge when things got heavy. He knew how much cocoa Duo put in his hot chocolate, his favourite book to read (yes, Duo read books sometimes), and the stores he preferred to go to for groceries. He knew what Duo’s triggers were, how he dodged Quatre’s concerned questioning about his well-being, how Duo acted when he was hiding something.

Perhaps the most important thing he had learnt, however, was the amount of patience the past two years had granted him – not just for Duo, but for himself.

Wufei shifted his sitting position so he was cross-legged on the bed, not even a foot from his roommate. He reached out and placed his hands lightly over Duo’s, slid them down to the ex-pilot’s tense shoulders, and pulled.

The embrace was warm, and a bit uncomfortable, but nonetheless welcome.

“Thunder can’t harm you, Maxwell,” Wufei’s breath was cool against Duo’s crown.

The braided man buried his face against Wufei’s shoulder. “It used to,” came the reply, unsteady and muffled.

Wufei shifted in his position just as another thunderclap boomed overhead; Duo flinched, which made the Chinese man hold him all the tighter. It wasn’t long before the younger man realized that his wrists ached from holding his hands so tightly against his ears. He moved them down slowly, inch by inch, and it helped Wufei hold him right against his chest. Which, even as another thunder crack shook the windows, contained a comfort that his own hands hadn’t been able to provide, and he didn’t shy away. He barely flinched by the next boom.

Duo breathed in, and the scent of pine followed, making him think of forests after the rain instead of the storm raging outside. Wufei’s right arm was around his shoulders, and the other around his waist; a safe hold, a firm hold, and it kept the other demons from entering Duo’s mind, though he couldn’t figure out how.

Neither was really keeping track of time, but the embrace he had been getting used to seemed to be cut short as Wufei slowly pulled back. His right hand switched to Duo’s shoulder, but the other remained at his waist. The rolls of thunder began to fade, leaving only the pitter-patter of rain behind, and Duo glanced up.

Their eyes met.

Duo leaned up, mouth open as if to say something, but no sound escaped. Their faces were close, no more than five inches apart, and a tension that didn’t exist before made itself known now. Wufei tilted his head, almost like a curious animal. Duo flicked his eyes down, but found himself looking at Wufei’s lips, so he looked down farther, inching back a little.

“Better?” Short, to-the-point, but spoken softly.

Duo nodded while keeping his eyes fixed on the small space between them. “Yeah… thanks, Wu.”

The Chinese man nodded, but the tension between them remained, and was helped along by the fact that Wufei thought it appropriate to brush a couple stray hairs back towards Duo’s braid.

Wufei always did pay attention to detail.

“Sorry,” Duo murmured, forcing a smile so he could look at his comrade. It was downright pitiful, striking a chord inside Wufei he hadn’t felt before. “I prolly seem pretty pathetic, being afraid of thunder of all things. You’d think I’d be more afraid of the people with guns off… of the…streets…”

He found himself trailing off because Wufei’s look put him in a place he’d never been before. A place where he felt relaxed, reassured, and ultimately complacent because this was _Wufei_ , and Wufei would never become malicious toward him, never purposefully hurt him. It was a look that translated to understanding for Duo, and he probably took more comfort in that than he realized.

“Don’t be sorry.”

You know, sometimes Wufei just _got it_. Other people – like Quatre – could probably get it, too, but they wouldn’t _really_ _get it_. Not in the same way.

Wufei closed the space between them and pressed his lips against Duo’s forehead. It felt right, and appropriate, just as adjusting the stray hairs had been appropriate to him earlier. Neither of them really had to say anything about the lessened tension, or breathe a word of the fact that unspoken feelings were going to be out in the open soon.

Taking the first steps were crucial, but they could take them slow.

At least until the storm passed.  


End file.
